In the production of a cellulose web, such as on a tissue machine, it is common practice to transfer the newly formed cellulose web onto a transfer fabric and route the cellulose web to a wind up zone. At the wind up zone, the cellulose web is wound onto a hollow core into a finished roll having a predetermined outer diameter. The hollow core is usually formed as an elongated cylinder which is made from thick cardboard and is held in place by a reel spool. Once the cellulose web has been wound up on the first hollow core to a desired outside diameter, the cellulose web coming off the machine is cut in the cross-direction and the leading edge is directed onto a second hollow core so that another finished roll can be formed. In the past, it was common to slit a tail for thread up. The finished roll would then be removed and a second hollow core would be properly positioned to receive the oncoming cellulose web. The leading edge of the cellulose web would be wrapped around the periphery of the second hollow core to form another finished roll. This intermittent procedure would be repeated until the newly formed cellulose web had been wound into a multitude of finished rolls.
As technology advanced and production speeds increased, it no longer became acceptable to stop the advancing cellulose web so that it could be cut and separated from the oncoming web. One way this was accomplished was to physically withdraw the finished roll from the advancing cellulose web and create a differential tension across the web which caused it to break or tear. A second hollow core was then positioned in place to receive the oncoming web. However, the torn web would exhibit a ragged or jagged edge which could extend in the machine direction from between about 1 to about 50 feet due to the high operating speeds of the tissue machine. This was disadvantageous for a number of reasons. First, pieces of cellulose web, known as "trash", commonly broke off from the advancing cellulose web during the tearing process and would fly about the machine and accumulate on the floor. This required additional maintenance and presented a safety hazard. Second, the ragged edge tended to complicate the attachment of the leading edge onto the second hollow core. If the tear extended over several feet, it also tended to cause the cellulose web to wind up on the hollow core in a non-uniform manner and under varying tension such that problems could be encountered in the converting area when the web was being unwound.
Therefore, there is a recognized need for an apparatus and a method for quickly and cleanly breaking an advancing cellulose web in the cross-direction so that it can be wrapped evenly onto another hollow core.